In a camera whose objective has a optical axis coinciding with a reference line perpendicular to the surface of a film or other photosensitive medium, generally at the center of an exposure window formed by the camera housing, the object plane lies parallel to the image plane constituted by the film surface. When the objective is tilted so that the optical axis includes an angle other than 90.degree. with the image plane, the image and object planes as well as the diaphragm plane of the objective intersect (according to Scheimpflug's law) along a common line at a finite distance from the axis. Such a tilting can therefore be used to bring objects into sharp focus which do not all lie in a relatively narrow zone transverse to the field of view.
A parallel shifting of the objective from its normal position is useful for the purpose of suppressing perspective distortion, e.g. when it is desired to take pictures of a tall building.
Objectives capable of either or both types of transverse adjustment are already well known. In such camera, however, it is generally not possible to trip the shutter of the objective by operating a pushbutton or similar release means on the camera housing. The setting of the diaphragm to a preselected stop during the taking of a picture, from a wide-open position in which the diaphragm is placed for view-finding and focusing purposes, also requires manipulation of a trigger at the objective in lieu of the more convenient operation of a control element (usually coupled with the release button) on the housing.